


take my breath away

by xiiis16



Category: IM5
Genre: Cinderella AU, M/M, Modern Setting, basically :)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-19
Updated: 2013-11-19
Packaged: 2018-01-02 01:12:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1050754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xiiis16/pseuds/xiiis16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So this is it. So this is what it feels like to kiss someone. They were right, Dalton found himself thinking, all the songs and the stories; it was absolutely divine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	take my breath away

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly just hope you like it :) I hope I didn't screw it up. 
> 
> You already know the drill, if you don't like this kind of stuff just don't read, yes? And be sure to tell me what you thought of it, okay? everything that comes to your mind while you're reading, just say it :) because it's your messages that keep me going and I just want to please you ^^,
> 
> So, enjoy and I'm sorry for any and all mistakes, they're all mine, this is totally unbeta'd :)

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

Dalton’s life has never been simple or easy.

He never met his mother and his dad remarried almost five years after her death to a French woman who didn’t like Dalton, at all. Then he too died when Dalton was still a kid.

He was left at his stepmother’s care that just didn’t dismiss him to the countryside to his grandmother because of the appearances. His father had a very famous coffee shop, had been a very influent man in their city and all Dalton’s stepmother wanted was to look good in the public’s eye and attract more people, more clients, using Dalton, _the poor little brave orphan_ as bait.

Before he made it to high school she had him working in his father’s coffee shop without any kind of salary. _You’ve got to keep the family business running, honey, it’s pretty much your duty,_ she’d say with that cynical smile on her face and thick French accent that Dalton hated so much. Then she’d brag about how brave he was by keeping up his father business without any reward to himself, how _inspiring_ of a boy he was.

It was all pretenses. She didn’t like him one bit and as soon as the doors were closed and no one was watching she’d turn into the cold bitch Dalton knew she was. She had two daughters from another marriage, Drizella and Anastasia. Drizella was the older of the two, nearly eighteen - Dalton’s age - and was the spitting image of her mother. She was not as cold and manipulative as her, but she was just as mean.

Anastasia, on the other hand, followed the two around but most of the time she just seemed confused. She talked to Dalton a lot, and they were civil to each other. Dalton suspected that if he invested time on this brotherly relationship with Anastasia she might actually turn out to be a nice girl. But time was something he most definitely didn’t have.

He was almost ending his Senior Year and he couldn’t wait for it so that he could leave this city, go to college all the way across the country and never come back. Dalton had it all planned – he and Will were going to move out of this city and go to college together in some big city far away from here.

Will was his best friend and the only person from his class that he talked to. The high school he went to was a pretty snobby one, full of preppy rich teenagers and Dalton stood out like a sore thumb in the middle of them. There were others that didn’t fit as well, but Dalton was such a cast out that he didn’t even belong in the group of the…well, _casted out_.

He and Will were such a weird duo but for some reason, it worked. Will was the only one who knew Dalton and all his secrets, the only one who supported him.

Dalton had a band along with three other guys that didn’t even go to the same school as him and it was a secret that he could only keep with Will’s help. Nobody could know because if they did, his stepmother would find out and shut the whole thing off, find some way to keep Dalton even more occupied. There was nothing that Dalton loved more than his music and to keep it a secret, his band always went on stage with a white mask on.

It was rather theatrical, and at first Dalton was a bit reluctant about it but soon it became their _thing,_ and it worked. People loved their music, their original songs and their covers and their punk rock style.

Will teased him all the time, saying the only reason why they were so famous around the city was because everyone was curious to know what kind of deformation the masks on their faces were hiding and Dalton would laugh sarcastically, hitting his shoulder as Will laughed. He teased him about it all the time, but the truth was that Will loved his band just as much as everyone else.

“ _I gotta admit, though_ ,” Will said, in one of the many lunch periods they spent together at school, “ _It’s a pretty awesome way to get girls_.”

Yes… it was, wasn’t it? Except Dalton wasn’t as interested in it as his friends seemed to be, he was in it for the music, really. Once or twice, he’d use that mask to get a girl, but it seemed so boring, so dull – he couldn’t understand his band mates’ excitement over such thing, when whenever he tried it he felt nothing. It was so mechanic; there was nothing there for him.

He didn’t say to Will, though – he was pretty sure the other boy would take it as an insult.

Recently everyone was kind of in a rush to get boyfriends and girlfriends; Prom was coming. All through the school everyone was talking about it.

“So, have you got a date for prom yet?” Dalton asked, as he sat in one of the tables at the cafeteria, tray of food pushed aside as he scribbled on his notebook. Will, who was eating rather well, _passionately,_ groaned and dropped his fork, sitting back on his chair.

“Seriously, you couldn’t wait till I finished eating to mention that tragedy?” Will said, mouth still full and arms crossed in front of him.

Dalton raised his eyebrows as he looked at Will with an amused smirk on his face, “I take it that’s a no.”

“Of course it’s a no,” Will said, swallowing the food on his mouth and eyeing his plate again, “I’m bound to be forever alone,” he said, picking up his fork again to proceed eating.

“Such optimism,” Dalton said sarcastically, smiling at him, “Weren’t you going to ask that girl, ahm, Ella or whatever her name was?”

“Jesus Christ, Dalton!” Will said, his eyes suddenly widening as he turned his head towards his right where said girl was eating lunch with her group of friends a couple of tables away, “Can you please lower your voice!” he whispered angrily, “Of course I’m not asking her, have you _looked_ at her?”

Dalton turned his head, examining the girl; she was very pretty, with big brown curly hair, blue eyes and this sort of exotic air to her. He could totally see why Will would want to take her to Prom.

“I think you should ask her,“ Dalton said shrugging, turning back to his notebook.

“No,“ Will said, immediately, “I think not. I don’t wanna be murdered by the group of morons that surround her, her _boyfriend_ included.”

Dalton looked at him confused, “Boyfriend? What boyfriend, I thought she was single?”

Will sighed, rolling his eyes. Dalton took another look at the girl’s table, noticing the other people there. It was all rich boys and girls, the so called _elite_. Dalton knew most of them simply because he’s seen them around – he never really talked to any of them in all his years in high school and he didn’t care as well.

“Well, technically she is single. But the Mayor’s son is always around her, I think he likes her or something…” Will trailed off with a sort of biter tone to his voice.

 _The Mayor’s son? He goes here?_ It was ridiculous how little Dalton knew of the people of his city and his school, but that’s what you get when you don’t have time to simply _breathe_ in peace.

“Which one of them is he?” Dalton asked. Will’s eyebrows raised in perplexity.

“Are you _serious_?” he said incredulously. “You don’t know the Mayor’s son? He’s like the most popular kid in this whole damned school.”

Dalton rolled his eyes at that. “I don’t pay attention to that kind of stuff, I’m sorry I’m not a social butterfly like yourself,” he said mockingly.

“How do you not know that guy, I don’t understand…” Will trailed off.

Once again Dalton turned his head to his left and his eyes got caught in one of the boys sitting next to Ella.

He’d seen him before, he’s crossed him in the hallways thousands of times but neither of them ever acknowledged the other. Maybe it was because of how obviously different they were. He was having an animated discussion with one of his friends, his thick eyebrow raised in amusement as he looked at the other boy by his side.

That boy probably had everything going for him, a perfect life and a perfect flawless plan for the future. In Dalton’s case, his future was still shaky and his life was a living hell. It showed even in the way they dressed, how that boy’s clothing was so neat, so preppy and fitting him so perfectly, how his hair was in a perfect quiff that somehow had life of its own, moving softly with his every move, framing his face just perfectly. In Dalton’s case, well, he wore band t-shirts and ripped jeans along with black nail polish and eyeliner and his hair was always a blond mess that fell on his eyes, hiding him away.

For a moment, Dalton wondered what it would be like to have a life like his.

From across the cafeteria, as he laughed at something the boy with the snapback had told him, the brunet boy looked Dalton’s way and their eyes connected for a slip second before Dalton could look away, feeling his heart missing a beat and his cheeks burning red at the embarrassment of being caught looking.

He didn’t have the courage to look his way again, but if he’d done it, he would’ve found a thoughtful pair of brown eyes looking back at him.

 

“I’ve got to go,” Dalton suddenly said, as he looked at the time on his phone. Will took his eyes off his homework to look at Dalton.

“Already? I thought you only had to be at the coffee shop around 4pm?” Will said, frowning. They were both sitting on the picnic tables outside catching up with their homework before going home.

“Yeah, but Jaq just texted me,” Dalton said as he packed his stuff back into his backpack, “the guys want to meet up.”

 Jaq and the guys were basically his band mates. It was probably because of a proposition they got to go play somewhere.

“Okay then,” Will said, sighing as he closed his notebook, “I’m going as well, I’m not doing anything here alone.”

After they split up, Dalton grabbed his headphones as he made the rest of the way to Jaq’s garage, where they would meet to rehearse. All the boys – Jaq, Hunter and Jonathan – were already there. Dalton greeted them all and sat down as Jaq started talking.

“We’ve got a proposition to play at your Prom,” he said straight ahead.

At first, Dalton smiled. It was an awesome way to publicize the band. But then his mind started racing when he actually thought straight about it. His step sisters would be there. There was a good chance his step mother would be there as well. Besides he wasn’t even sure she would let him go.

“It’s a great opportunity for us, dude, they told us they were inviting people, some big shots from the local music industry. It could set us off if they liked us,” Jaq continued, a smile on his face.

Suddenly, all the possibilities formed in Dalton’s head, and he smiled back.

“Okay,” Dalton said. This was important. A lot of people went to Prom and they needed the money as well - they had to play.

“Yeah?” Jaq pressed to be sure.

“Yeah,” Dalton said firmly, “We’re going to play at Prom.”

 

 

The second he crossed the door of the coffee shop, he could already see his step mother approaching.

“Where have you been?” She asked in her cold, calm and dangerous tone of voice.

“School,” Dalton answered automatically, passing by her and towards the counter to put his stuff away in the back room.

“Is that so?” she said and Dalton felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise at the way she talked, a sudden fear that she might know about Dalton’s true whereabouts. “Drizella just came back from school. She didn’t see you there.”

He took a deep breath as he looked at one of the tables where both his stepsisters were sitting, waiting for their food.

“It’s a big school,” Dalton said simply. His stepmother didn’t say anything after that. Instead she neared the counter and without taking her eyes off Dalton she spoke to Faye, a middle aged lady that had been working at the coffee shop all her life and it was practically family to Dalton, “Miss Faye, you must be tired. You can leave early today, Dalton will take it from here until Bruno arrives, won’t you, honey?” she said.

Instantly a burning wave of hate and frustration invaded Dalton.

“But Miss Tremaine, Bruno is coming to work later today he had a doctor’s appoint-“ Faye started only to be interrupted by her again.

“I said you could leave, Miss Faye.”

Faye eyed her with her brows furrowed for a second before turning to Dalton with an apologetic look on her face. They both knew what his stepmother was doing. She was doing this on purpose to overwork him – she knew now was one of the busiest hours of the day, when people got off work and stopped by for a quick snack before getting home or a relaxing coffee after a long day; and she also knew Bruno’s shift wasn’t until 8pm. _She was such a bitch._

As Faye went home and Dalton was left to do all the work, his stepmother went to sit with her daughters and Dalton was supposed to serve them.

“Mom, we need to go shopping for dresses!” Drizella was saying.

“Patience, Drizella, you’re a week away from Prom,” his stepmother said, rolling her eyes.

“But then all the good dresses will be gone! Mom, you know I have to look good,” the girl kept complaining in her annoying, whining tone of voice. Dalton was about to shut the whole conversation off until, “I wanna impress the Mayor’s son!”

And that caught Dalton’s attention.

“You’ll need more than a good dress to accomplish that,” Anastasia commented, slurping her milkshake, which got her a punch on the arm.

“Mother!” Drizella squealed.

“Anastasia,” she said in a cautious tone of voice, and Anastasia groaned. “Shouldn’t you be interested in a boy as well?” his mother continued, and Anastasia rolled her eyes.

“I don’t care about boys. They’re stupid and useless.” And that ended her part of the discussion.

“Don’t mind her, mom, you need to help _me_ ,” Drizella said, shaking her mother’s arm vigorously and stealing her attention again, as well as Dalton’s that tried to be as subtle about as he could.

“Did he ask you to be his date?” His stepmother asked.

“No, but that doesn’t matter,” Drizella said, dismissingly, “You see, nobody really hangs with their dates the moment they’re inside. I could get him to dance with me,” she paused then, scrunching her face up thoughtfully, “or I could just get him drunk…”

Dalton had to fight the urge to scoff at the girl. Both mother and daughter were so thirsty for money and tittles they would do most anything to get to where they wanted to be, never mind principles and morals. Honestly, Dalton was pretty convinced his dad’s money and name was the only thing his stepmother ever loved about him and the only reason she married him.

Distracted by the conversation as he collected the unfinished cups of coffee from the table next to them, Dalton turned around, not noticing his chain getting stuck on the table’s little decorative metal works. As he took a step he was yanked back and the cups went flying, landing directly on Drizella’s green shirt.

She automatically jumped, screaming, and when Dalton realized what had happened his mouth dropped open. _Oh god, no._

“Oh my God, you useless little bastard!” Drizella screeched, as Dalton looked down at his, now crooked, chain, releasing himself, “You did that on purpose! Mother!”

“I didn’t, it was an accident-“

“Shut up! You’re so full of shit, god I hate you look what you did to my shirt!”

“Enough! Both of you!” His stepmother intervened, getting up from her seat. Dalton took a deep breath, calming himself. He knew what was coming. It’d be naïve of him to think she would just let this one go. “Don’t you have work to do?” she said, turning to Dalton with narrowed eyes.

“I _was_ doing my work,” Dalton said, trying to sound cool and calm.

“Poorly,” Drizella added angrily.

“I think you need to practice your serving a little more,” his stepmother said, coldly, “Perhaps working the night shift next week will do you some good.”

Immediately, Dalton felt the blood drain from his face. _Next week is the Prom!_ He couldn’t miss it, his band needed the money, needed to appear!

“You can’t, next week’s the Prom!” Dalton said, his voice rising unintentionally. He saw the corner of his stepmother’s lip twitch as she tried to contain a smirk and he knew admitting he wanted to go was the biggest mistake he could make.

“Then I guess you won’t be going.”

She was loving this. She was loving the feeling of taking something away from him, something he actually wanted.

Dalton felt his blood boil and his breathing quickening as all the anger he felt for that woman seemed to intensify. His hands curled up in fists by his side and as Drizella’s laugh filled his ears he had to turn around and walk away, before he did something he’d regret. He felt the hot tears accumulating in his eyes because of the frustration building up inside him. Why did she have to ruin _everything_?  

As he locked himself in the storage room, in the back, he let his back fall against the door and the tears fall freely as he gave in to the anger and frustration he was feeling and started kicking the stands and the wall, punching everything at sight, wishing it was that damned woman instead.

He needed that concert. Tons of people would be there, maybe even someone of the music business, someone connected to a label, someone that could help them out, get them started somehow.

He could forget it now.

 

 

The following week went by in a blink. Things got worse at the coffee shop and Dalton had never been so busy and so tired. No amount of sleep seemed to be enough and he found himself dozing off in class, only noticing when Will elbowed him in the ribs to wake him up.

At the coffee shop, all his colleagues seemed extremely worried about him, Faye especially. He went to work at 4 pm every afternoon and only left around 11 pm and then had to wait for the last bus, at midnight to take him home.

Faye stayed with him until 7 pm, that was when their shift normally ended, but now, as she went home, Dalton had to stay and work Bruno’s shift as well. Both Bruno and Gus worked the night shift in different nights of the week, always from 7 pm to midnight that was when the coffee shop closed. Sometimes both of them felt so sorry for Dalton that they let him go get some sleep in the back room, whenever his stepmother wasn’t around and things were calm. It felt like a blessing to Dalton.

He still wasn’t over the whole Prom thing, and there was no one that was as terribly crushed for him as Faye, that kept bad mouthing his stepmother for it.

Somehow it still managed a smile out of Dalton sometimes at how terribly heated she got over it. _It’s just not fair, son_ , she’d say, _it’s your Senior Prom_ , _it’s_ your _night and she’s taking it away from you!_

Dalton had a feeling that if Faye actually knew exactly what else his stepmother was taking away from him, she’d go on a slapping spree. The idea had him cracking a smile despite everything.

When Saturday rolled around Dalton found himself home alone for most of the day. He felt so bitter about this day that everything seemed to go wrong even in the basic day-to-day tasks.

By the time he got to the coffee shop, the look of pity on Faye’s eyes only made him feel worse. Only a few hours later his stepmother and his stepsisters showed up at the coffee shop, and the smile on Drizella’s face as she saw Dalton’s miserable face only confirmed what he already knew – his stepmother was rubbing the situation all over Dalton’s face.

“We’re going out for dinner, and then we’re heading off to school,” she told Dalton, “I’ll leave shortly after midnight so don’t bother catching the bus; I’ll drive by and pick you up myself,” she told him.

He knew what she was doing – she wanted to make sure he was here the whole night, working.

As they were leaving, Anastasia stayed back.

“I’m sorry,” she said, to Dalton. The boy raised his eyes to look at his stepsister. She didn’t seem very happy herself.

“Believe me, if I could I’d let you go in my turn,” she said.

“Have fun for me,” Dalton said simply, to which Anastasia scoffed, a smirk curling her lip. “Yeah, right,” she said, before smiling softly at Dalton and leaving the coffee shop. It was the nicest thing his stepsister has ever said to him.

He sighed, preparing himself for a long, awful night at the coffee shop as all his dreams and plans for the future suffered a huge blow.

“Alright,” Faye said, suddenly turning around to face Dalton, “That’s it,” she said, throwing the cloth on her hand down on the counter. Dalton frowned, looking at Faye as she stormed into the back room and started rummaging the cabinet where she put her stuff.

“What’s gotten into you?” Dalton said, following her with both eyebrows rising at the woman’s sudden explosion.

“That stupid woman is just getting under my skin, I cannot take it any longer,” she said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and typed a message furiously.

“What are you doing?” Dalton said, looking around to see if anyone was waiting to be served or noticed her sudden outburst.

“I am texting Bruno to pass by my house before getting his ass here,” she said.

Dalton frowned, not following, “What? What for?”

“To pick up some stuff I need,” she said, vaguely. It was making Dalton even more confused. Her shift was almost over, why would she need anything from her house if she was going there now? It didn’t make any sense.

“Stuff you need? To what?” he asked again.

“To get you all fancied up. You, young man, are going to Prom,” she stated, just like that.

Inside Dalton’s head it was like his brain short-circuited.

“What?” he managed to say, shaking his head as if trying to physically getting rid of his confusion.

“It’s not fair, Dalton! You are going to that Prom if it’s the last thing I do,” she said, still hitting the buttons on her phone vigorously.

“But Faye, I can’t! My stepmother will kill me if she ever sees me there. She’d enslave me, I wouldn’t even be able to leave my own house,” Dalton reasoned, even though there was nothing he wanted more than to go to that Prom. He had to be rational about this. There would be more chances to get noticed with his band; if he got caught by his stepmother, he’d probably never sing or touch a guitar ever again.

“Don’t be silly, Dalton, if dozens of people haven’t recognized you behind that mask then why would she be any different?”

“Well, because-“he stopped abruptly. _Wait, what?_

He stayed silent for a second, only looking at Faye that had her eyebrows raised at Dalton in a knowingly expression that just screamed _Well?_

She knew about his band? How did she know?

“How do you know about my band?” he said in a quiet tone. Fayed smiled at him and ruffled his hair affectionately.

“I know you better than you think, kid,” she said fondly. “And I also know you’re meant to be playing tonight. And so help me god, you will. Now go on, text your friends to get ready.”

The most genuine smile cracked on Dalton’s face and an uncontrollable wave of appreciation took over him as he wrapped his arms around Faye, “Thank you so much, Faye! You’re like the mother I never had and I love you,” he said, meaning every word.

“Oh, kiddo,” Faye said, holding him just as tight, “Stop that or you’ll make me tear up and nobody’s got time for that,” she mocked, making Dalton chuckle again. She pushed him gently back to look at him, “now go on, we have to get ready.”

Not even ten minutes later, after Dalton texted the boys, Bruno came in through the front door holding a bag and a huge grin was on his face. Faye didn’t even give him time to talk before she was yanking the bag out of his grasp, speaking excitedly at Dalton.

“This was my son’s,” she said, opening the bag and taking out a light blue blazer that had Dalton raising his eyebrows.

“Faye, you do realize I’m part of a punk rock band, right?” he said, frowning. She rolled her eyes.

“Yes, Dalton, and I also realize you’re going to Prom. I don’t care if you wear all those bracelets and chains and ripped black jeans, _you are_ wearing this blazer,” she said.

He sighed, knowing there was no point arguing with her; besides he was so stoked right now he didn’t care if he had to wear a pink tutu, as long as he got to perform tonight. Well, maybe not a pink tutu…

Bruno was already at the counter, covering for them as Faye got him ready. By the time she was through with him, Dalton was pretty much jumping on his skin, super anxious.

He was still wearing his basic black ripped jeans sitting low on his waist and his old and worn all-stars, but Faye got him a white shirt with a pattern that looked like black paint had been splattered all over it as well as the light blue blazer that somehow complimented the rest just perfectly. He pushed the sleeves to his elbows, showing off his dozen bracelets and his studded belt and chains were firmly stuck on his jeans. After putting his collars back on, he was ready to go.

“Do your friends have your makeup?” Faye asked, “And your mask?”

Dalton nodded as Faye took his hands in hers.

“I hope you have fun tonight, sweetie, you deserve it,” she said, her eyes shining up at him and voice shaking slightly as she spoke the words calmly.

“Oh, no, don’t do that, don’t start crying, Faye, please,” he chuckled, hugging her again.

“I’ll stop, I’ll stop,” she said, breaking the hug and cleaning the tears on her eyes, “Now you go and have the best night of your life, sweetie. I’ll cover for you, go!”

Again, Dalton smiled, the brightest he had smiled in a long while and kissed her forehead and stormed through the back room, towards the back door.

“Oh, be sure to be back at midnight, son!” Faye called after him to which he yelled, “I will!” back.

Outside, the guys were just turning the corner in Hunter’s black van, stopping in front of the back door and opening the side door to Dalton, all while shouting excitedly and simply glowing with adrenaline for tonight.

Immediately Jaq handed Dalton his mask as well as his makeup.

Normally, daily, all Dalton used was eyeliner. However for their concerts his makeup had to be more… intense. His white mask covered only his right eye, ending just below his cheekbone; the left side of his face was left exposed below his eyebrow and to complement the mask, Dalton used thick black makeup that still managed to hide his identity.

With the light blue blazer, his eyes stood out like flashlights and it was almost intimidating how intense it was.

It was past 8 pm when they arrived at the school and Jaq went to find out the details to their performance.

“Alright, so check this out,” he said as he climbed on the back of the van again, closing the door behind him. “They already got everything settled for us, we’re using their equipment, just need to take our instruments and the pedalboards with us. Dal, you’re using their mic, is that a problem?”

Dalton scoffed, “Of course not, dude. When are we starting?” he asked instead, rubbing his hands together.

“There’s a DJ playing right now ‘till about 9pm and we go after. We’re doing a 1 hour set.”

Every boy nodded. “Shall we start taking the rest of the stuff inside, then?” Jonathan asked.

“Yes, definitely, “Jaq said, and then he turned to Dalton, “Hey dude, what time do you have to leave?”

“Midnight… you guys don’t mind, do you?” Dalton asked apprehensively, not wanting to ruin everyone’s night.

“Are you kidding, man? It’s totally alright, you’re already risking a lot of shit for us just being here tonight, we’re totally okay with it, we can leave whenever you want to.”

Dalton smiled again, feeling that warm wave of affection towards his friends invading him.

“Thanks dudes.”

 

 

“Will,” Dalton called from behind the speaker he was hiding. Will was standing by the food, dancing alone and enjoying the small pastries. “Will!”

He didn’t seem to hear Dalton, and the blond boy almost wanted to go there and kick his ass. “William!” he shouted.

Finally, Will turned around from the table with an outraged look on his face screaming _who the hell dares to disturb my eating?_

The moment he saw Dalton though, his eyes widened in shock and he forgot everything about the food for a split second, “Dalton?!” he said perplexed.

Dalton signaled him to get closer, looking around. As Will approached, a smile on his face started blooming.

“Dude you came!” he said, stumbling on a string that was holding some balloons. As he disentangled himself, he looked at the balloons like he wanted to slap them.

“Yeah, I did, Faye’s covering for me,” Dalton replied, narrowing his eyes in suspicion at Will.

Will’s smile just widened, “that woman’s an angel” he said, using the stereo to still himself. At that, Dalton’s mouth opened in incredulity when he finally took a look at Will and realized what was doing on. “Dude, are you drunk?” he asked. Will scoffed, still rocking slightly on his feet, “No,” he said dragging the word.

Dalton rolled his eyes. “Alright, who spiked the punch?” he asked, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrows at Will.

The other boy smiled, turning around to point at someone, “The Bruno Mars over there, with the hat, the round fedora thing… funny, he normally just wears snapbacks and has a bodyguard that uses batman shirts and never smiles. I don’t think his name’s Bruno, though. I think it’s Danny… or Dana. Dino…?” Will trailed off, looking confused.

Dalton had to laugh at his friend, shaking his head. Trust Will to come to Prom alone to then get drunk on spiked punch and pass the rest of his time eating his feelings away. He smiled sympathetically – he really should’ve asked that girl out.

“Hey, have you seen my stepmother and my sisters?” he asked instead.

“Oh, yeah, yeah,” Will said, gesticulating toward the other side of the room, “They’re all the way over there, by the sofas with the rest of the adults and the losers like myself. I think Drizella’s sulking about some guy or something, she didn’t seem very happy.”

He laughed. Well, wasn’t this night going just great for everyone?

“The Mayor’s son probably blew her off or something,” Dalton said, still chuckling. Will chuckled as well, “Yeah,” and then his whole expression changed to a distressed one as he crossed his arms, “probably blew her to go after my girl, though.”

And suddenly Dalton remembered the whole thing about Ella and the Mayor’s boy, “Oh right! Have you seen her tonight?”

“Of course I’ve seen her, everybody’s seen her. When she walked inside this place everyone stopped to look at her,” Will said, eyebrows arching in a longing look. “God, she’s so beautiful.”

Dalton felt the corners of his lip twitch as he tried to contain a smile, “Yeah. You should totally go ask her for a dance,” he teased.

Will looked at him with a weird look on his eyes, “Are you out of your mind?”

“No, I mean it. You should totally do it. I mean, what do you have to lose at this point, buddy?” Dalton said a hand on Will’s shoulder for reassurance. He saw all the emotions playing behind Will’s eyes and a determined look colored his face.

“Yeah, you’re right. I have nothing to lose,” he said. “I’m gonna go there.”

“Go get her, tiger,” Dalton encouraged with a smile on his face and sent him away with a pat on his back.

He watched him make his way through the crowd, elbowing a couple of girls on his way, to which Dalton had to laugh, before he reached Ella. She was indeed gorgeous with a white dress complimenting her figure and her wild, big, and dark hair falling down her back in loose curls.

Will tapped her shoulder and she turned around, a confused look on her face suddenly turning into a surprised one as she glanced at Will. He said something in her ear that had her smiling and then outstretched his hand, bowing slightly. She laughed and took it, falling into place to start dancing with a very awestruck Will. As she turned around, guiding Will towards the middle of the dance floor, he took a lot at Dalton, a huge grin across his face and gave him a thumbs up, excitedly.

Dalton chuckled, before turning around to head backstage – the DJ was almost finishing.

 

 

Never in his life had he been this nervous stepping a stage. His left hand was curling on his guitar’s neck, tightening his grip with every passing second, his right one gripping his black top hat with the zebra pattern. His heart was beating so loud on his chest it felt like it was gonna pop out of his mouth before he could sing the first word. He could feel the ring of his blood rushing on his ears, drowning all other sounds.

Jaq was by his side, his white mask hiding his eyes but not covering the huge smile he wore on his face. Dalton saw his lips moving _are you ready?_ but he couldn’t hear a damn thing, too dazed, too nervous to function. He smiled though, chuckling nervously and nodded, turning around to face Hunter and Jonathan as well and bringing them in a group hug.

Then they were announced; Jonathan was the first to step on the stage, sitting behind the drums with Hunter following him with the bass.

Jaq patted Dalton’s shoulder and blinked at him, behind the mask and beneath the black makeup before he too stepped on stage. Dalton took a deep breath. This was it. This was the moment where everything could go terribly wrong or fantastically right – there was no in between.

He stepped on the stage, the dim lights barely enough to let him see the floor decently. He could hear the cheering, people stepping closer to the stage, he could hear them shouting and whistling, and it was intoxicating.

Dalton stepped closer to the microphone stand, where a single spotlight shone on him from beneath, casting all kinds of shadows on his face, hiding him away. As his mouth approached the microphone he heard the female shouting increasing and with the cockiest smile he could produce he chuckled at them before strumming hard on the guitar, and starting the music.

It worked like a switch. Suddenly he forgot all about his stepmother, about his crappy life, how much he missed his mom and his dad, how trapped he felt; he forgot all problems clouding his mind, he never felt so light. It was exhilarating. Feeling all those eyes on him, watching that entire crowd cheering for him and his music, and watching them react to his teasing – it was so amazing. When he came too close, one of the girls near the stage managed to grab his chain in her excitement, and even though she didn’t exactly mean to, she pulled it as Dalton moved away, crooking it a little more. He saw her mouthing _sorry_ and smiled at her. Also, he made a mental note to fix the chain.

The songs went by and he couldn’t stop smiling. Dalton saw, at the back of the room, a group of men looking at them, commenting with each other certain details and overall looking very impressed and Dalton was hoping that those were the guys connected to the music labels, _please let it be!_

He also saw his stepmother. She was in fact at the far back of the room, sitting by the sofas and talking very cheerfully to some other parents ignoring Drizella by her side, sulking. Anastasia wasn’t with them and he couldn’t find her either _. Maybe she got away as she wanted,_ Dalton thought.

And then there was Will. Silly little inebriated Will that was dancing around that girl like he was having the time of his life. It was mutual, though, she seemed to be enjoying his company just as much as he was enjoying hers. It was actually _adorable_.

As his eyes scanned the crowd, looking for more familiar faces, a pair of brown eyes caught his.

It was that boy again, the popular one at whom he was caught looking at. His white blazer stood out in the middle of all the black tuxedos and colorful dresses and his eyes wouldn’t leave Dalton’s. It was such an intense gaze, Dalton felt his skin tingling.

He was taken back for a second. Was he recognizing him?

It couldn’t be. He was certainly being paranoid.

But those deep brown eyes wouldn’t leave his for a single second, not even then someone else tried to steal his attention, pulling him towards them or even turning his head to face them. The boy just brushed them of, keeping his full attention on Dalton, stepping closer, and looking at him as if he was something out of this world. It made Dalton feel naked, as if he could see right through him. It was so intriguing, this boy’s curiosity.

And he was enjoying it. Dalton liked how he couldn’t take his eyes away of him and so, driven by some kind of unusual inexplicable urge, he started teasing him, _just a little bit_. He started singing certain parts of the songs directly at him, keeping his attention on him, smiling and biting his tongue, nothing too obvious. Of course, the boy noticed, because of how intently he was watching Dalton moving on that stage.

(For a split second, he swore he saw the boys lips mouthing _you tease_ at him.)

Throughout the whole concert he came and went, talking to people, even dancing to Dalton’s music, but every time Dalton looked for him, he was already looking at him, staring with a smile on his face as if they were exchanging some kind of secret.

Their performance ended around 10:30 pm, after a few encores and improvised covers that had (especially, but not exclusively) the girls swooning.

Dalton stepped down from the stage with the lightness of a feather – he felt like he was flying, so full of adrenaline, so alive. It was amazing, it was the best sensation he’s ever experienced, doing what he loved, what he was really good doing and feeling like everyone else enjoyed it and supported you. Never in his life had he felt like there were people supporting him – except for Will and Faye, of course.

But all in all, he never felt like there were people behind him, encouraging him to do what he loved. Dalton never had a mother cheering for him, being excessively supportive of him, like he was the best at everything he did and bragging about him to his whole family and friends. Will’s mom was just that kind of mother, constantly making Will groan as he blushed saying _Mom!_ because she was showing Dalton his awkward baby pictures with the fondest smile towards his son. It made Dalton’s heart ache, longing for the same kind of relationship.

This kind of support was the best he was ever going to get, so he cherished it, this feeling of being in the clouds, wanting to remember it forever.

The boys then spread out - after putting their material back on the van - wanting to enjoy the rest of the night themselves until midnight, never removing their masks. Dalton couldn’t exactly hang with Will, people would suspect of his identity, so he had to walk around, running away from the too clingy and already slightly tipsy girls.

Whenever he talked to them he kept the whole charade up, the teasing, the smugness, the slight sassiness - it was like playing a character. Except there was no script, he could say whatever he wanted, no one would hold it against him; it was so freeing, such a welcomed difference from when he was around his stepmother and had to hold his tongue all the time.

The girls seemed to like it as well, for some reason being _bad_ just attracted them more. He couldn’t quite understand the logic in it, but he wasn’t questioning it, he didn’t really care. In fact, the only reason he did it was because of said freedom; he was talking to four girls right now and he had them all in the palm of his hand, one word and any one of them would go with him wherever he wanted and he had _absolutely no interest_ in it.

At a certain point, when the girls had had far too much more to drink than Dalton, they started getting too touchy, leaning in too much, the jokes and innuendos getting more and more frequent and that was Dalton’s cue to leave them immediately.

He went to find Jaq instead, but when he spotted him he was already with his girlfriend, slow dancing and looking awfully in love. Dalton groaned and downed his whole cup at once, tasting the alcohol behind the sweetness of the punch. He turned around then, the edges of his vision blurred, even though he was still perfectly fine. That blurriness made him doubt his eyes for a moment when he found himself facing a pair of already familiar brown eyes.

“I guess your friend’s too busy for you,” he said, with a smirk curling the corner of his mouth as he nodded towards Jaq and his girlfriend that started making out rather… passionately. Dalton grimaced at that. _Jesus Christ_.

“Or maybe it’s the girl you’re interested in?” the boy added, turning his head slightly to the side as he faced Dalton, his eyes narrowing in a curious look as if he was trying to figure something out. Looking at him, Dalton smiled feeling protected behind that mask, so protected in fact that he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind, “I’m not interested in _any_ girl.”

He paused, his eyes widening as he realized what he just said. The other boy was looking at him with a smirk on his face, a sudden change in his eyes and Dalton felt like he said something he shouldn’t have, like he revealed a secret that no one knew and no one was supposed to know. _Not even himself_ , he thought as he finally reflected at the truth in those words. He wasn’t interested in _any_ girl, _never_ had been. As he felt the way those brown eyes affected him he started understanding _why._

The other boy was staring at him, a smirk on his face and his eyes wandered all over Dalton’s body. “I’m Cole,” he said, outstretching his hand. Dalton’s lips twitched as he contained a smile.

“You know I can’t tell you my name,” he said, shaking the boy’s - _Cole’s_ hand nonetheless. He smiled, “I know, it’s all part of your…” he trailed off, spotting a girl in the distance looking at Dalton, as if deciding if she should come over or not. “Charm,” Cole finished, chuckling when he saw the exasperation on Dalton’s face. “People just can’t stay away from you, can they?” Cole said a small, pensive smile on his face.

Dalton looked at him again, “You tell me,” he said, looking straight into his eyes. The air between them was charged with something, and the silent looks only served to increase the tension that had been building since the moment Dalton stepped on that stage and Cole set his eyes on him. Cole licked his lips, catching Dalton’s eyes. He looked at the girl again that was now advancing towards them.

“She’s coming for you,” Cole sing sung, above the calm music, chuckling. “Let’s get out of here, then,” Dalton said, taking Cole’s hand and pulling him along towards the door. As he made his way through the crowd, towards the front door, he didn’t even think of everyone that could be watching, what it would look like. But he didn’t care much, honestly, all his focus was on the warmth of the hand he was holding.

He felt the boy behind him pulling his arm, making him stop, “No, wait,” he said, his whole body suddenly flushed against Dalton’s back as he spoke on his ear, slowly, “Come this way, instead.” He lingered against Dalton for longer than it was necessary, and Dalton felt himself blush, a sudden rush of heat taking over his body and he has to close his eyes for a moment. He never felt anything quite like it.

He followed Cole towards the back door of the gym, where the stairs that accessed the roof were. Dalton followed without question, smiling at the goofy smiles Cole sent his way, “What are you smiling about?” he asked. Cole just smiled wider, looking back at him, climbing the stars backwards to be able to face Dalton, “Just thinking about the girl’s face as I stole you away from her grasp,” he said. Dalton’s eyebrows rose in his forehead as he smiled.

“I was the one pulling you behind me, so technically _I_ was the one stealing and _you_ the one being stolen,” Dalton said matter-of-factly.

Cole stopped in one of the steps, hands on both sides of the railing as he looked down at Dalton, “You didn’t _need_ to steal me. I’d come anywhere with you, willingly.” And he smiled that million watts smile of his that made funny things to Dalton’s belly.

 They both moved like someone was chasing them, running up the stairs, laughing as one of them almost tripped in their hastiness.

As he pushed the door to the roof open, the music echoing through the walls, even though quieter sounded around them, clearly. Cole turned around facing Dalton again, a surprised expression on his face, “I love this song!” he said without letting go of Dalton’s hand and pushed him towards him, making him spin under his arm to the beat of the music echoing downstairs. Dalton laughed heartily, as he heard _take my breath away_ starting to play. “Seriously?” he said, swaying with Cole nonetheless, as the boy looked at him with an exaggerated soppy look on his face.

“Shh, don’t ruin it,” Cole said winking at him and pulling Dalton closer to slow dance, a hand on the small of his back and the other gripping his hand. Dalton kept laughing, letting Cole guide him, “I can’t believe this is happening, oh my god,” he said, shaking his head.

“Shut up, you idiot, just because you’re this hardcore punk rocker doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate the romance,” Cole said in a jovial tone of voice, making Dalton laugh again.

“What would my band mates think of me if they saw me digging the 80’s power ballads like this? I’d be kicked out of the band,” Dalton said, jokingly, letting his chin fall on Cole’s shoulder.

“Hey, there’s a reason why this song has almost 30 years and it’s still rocking at proms,” Cole said, pulling Dalton closer, “besides, I think your band would have a pretty hard time succeeding without you.”

Dalton hid his smile in his shoulder, even though he knew Cole wasn’t seeing it. “Was that a compliment, or…?” he teased. Cole pulled back just a little, enough to look straight at Dalton without stop dancing.

“No offense to the other three but, _definitely_ a compliment,” he stated, his eyes searching Dalton’s face as he bit his lip. Silence feel in between them as they just stared at each other in this surreal daze. It didn’t feel real at all, this familiarity between them, like they’ve known each other all their lives, how naturally they fit together, how perfect it felt. It was something out of a dream.

“ _God_ , your eyes are so beautiful,” Cole said out of nowhere, and Dalton was struck speechless at his bluntness. His eyes widened and he had to look away, stopping the dancing for a few beats, feeling his cheeks heat up.

“Wow, you don’t hold anything back, do you?” Dalton teased, not quite meeting his eyes as he regained his posture.

Cole smiled, “you’d be surprised,” he mumbled, staring openly at Dalton’s mouth, the meaning of his sentence obvious with that action. Dalton’s heart skipped a beat and for some unknown crazy reason he really thought Cole was about to kiss him. The weirdest part for him was that it didn’t freak him out; he wanted him to lean in, but he was so scared as well – it was so overwhelming.

He cleared his throat and took a step back, feeling the need to take a deep breath and organize his crazy thoughts. “So, why did we come here?” Dalton said, trying to bring some normalcy to the conversation and sound casual.

Cole shoved his hands on his pockets and shrugged, looking back at the view of the city and all its lights, “I just figured no one would bother us here,” he said, flashing a smile at Dalton, “also, it’s a really nice view, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Dalton replied, getting closer to Cole, their shoulders brushing as they stood side-by-side watching the city. “I’ve never been up here at night,” he mumbled. Cole turned his head to look at him and Dalton could _feel_ his smile.

“But _you’ve been_ up here,” he said. Dalton’s heart jumped on his chest. _Shit_.

He opened his mouth to say something, to give him a good explanation as to why he’s been on the roof of the school’s gym before without telling him they went to the same school, “I-.“

But Cole interrupted him, biting back his smile, shaking his head, “It’s okay, I won’t speak of it if you don’t want to don’t worry.”

“I don’t want people finding out which school I go to,” Dalton said. It was honestly so weird the way the trusted this boy so much already and so naturally like they’ve known each other their whole lives.

“I get it,” Cole said, turning his whole body in Dalton’s direction, a small smile on his lips and Dalton felt a wave of something warm invading his body. It was so weird, so surreal, so unknown, he didn’t know what to do.

“We can probably go downstairs now,” Dalton mumbled, after the silence between them prolonged for longer than it should. It wasn’t uncomfortable, it wasn’t awkward, but it was so charged with something threatening to make Dalton loose his mind that he felt the need to break it. It was so, _so_ overpowering. He turned around, stepping closer to the door.

“Why?” Cole simply asked, turning around, following right behind him.

“Because,” Dalton started, stopping to face him again, “you’re kind of knocking me off my feet here, and I don’t trust myself right now.”

For the first time in the whole night, Cole seemed rather speechless, “I-I’m sorry, like I said I didn’t mean to pressure you, if you don’t wanna tell me who you are it’s okay,” he managed to say.

Dalton shook his head, “It’s not about that,” he said, looking straight into Cole’s eyes, “it’s _really_ not about that,” he mumbled, his eyes falling on Cole’s mouth without his permission. Something shifted in Cole’s face at that, as he realized what the other boy meant.

“Oh,” Cole said simply and then took a few steps closer to Dalton. The look on his eyes was so intense, somehow predatory and it was hard to meet it. It was all new to Dalton, he never felt anything like this towards anyone – it made him almost dizzy. Dalton turned away, ready to open the door and leave, “ _God_ ,” he whispered.

But Cole reached out and grabbed his hand, “No, wait,” he whispered, making Dalton turn around and face him again. His other hand slipped under his jaw, curling around his neck, “ _C’mere_ ,” he mumbled as he walked Dalton backwards until his back was against the wall beside the door. Dalton’s breathing was ragged at this point, his heart racing in his chest, “Don’t run away from me,” Cole muttered invading all of Dalton’s personal space.

He leaned in those last few inches and kissed him, slowly and softly, sealing their lips together until they were firmly locked. It was unlike anything Dalton had ever experienced. It made his whole brain melt and his whole body tingle, like it was electrified.

 _So this is it. So this is what it feels like to kiss someone._ They were right, Dalton found himself thinking, all the songs and the stories; it was absolutely _divine_.

When Cole broke the kiss, he found himself chasing after his lips, a small whine escaping his lips. “You have no idea of what you do to me,” he said against Dalton’s lips, “When you’re on that stage, do you have any idea of how absolutely irresistible you look?” he said, kissing Dalton’s jaw.

Dalton’s hands came up to grip his white blazer, his eyes fluttering close. Was it even possible to feel like he was feeling? Like his body was on flames, consuming him in the most wonderful way?

“Everything about you just… _takes my breath away_ ,” Cole said chuckling as his lips trailed up to kiss his lips again. His tongue darted out, inciting Dalton’s mouth to part; he had no idea of what to do, he was just letting himself be guided by instinct and Cole’s incentives. In the back of his mind there was a slight worry _– what if I’m doing it wrong?_ It was rapidly silenced by the soft moans escaping the other boy’s lips as they moved together, exploring each other’s mouths.

Dalton felt Cole’s hands trailing down his side, sliding beneath his blue blazer and his shirt, caressing the skin along the line of his boxers, slowly moving towards his belt and the button of his jeans. It sent chills up Dalton’s back, making him whimper into the kiss. This was going so fast suddenly, but he couldn’t stop. Cole groaned letting go of his lips, connecting their foreheads and closing his eyes as he whispered, “ _God_ , the things I’d do to you.”

Dalton kissed him again, feeling his hand teasing at the line of his boxers, the touch burning, “I’ve dreamt about you before, you know?” Cole said, as Dalton took the initiative and kissed his neck, “The night I first saw you singing, I couldn’t take you off my mind,” he said, his eyes fluttering shut.

Dalton pulled back, “Really?” he whispered against Cole’s skin, feeling the other boy’s fingers curl up on the skin of his abdomen.

“Yes, I’ve been thinking about you non-stop. You’ve been on my mind all day, every day. I wanted to meet you,” Cole said, facing him and looking at the white mask covering Dalton’s eyes. His hand free hand came up, his fingers trailing the contours of the mask softly, “I wanted to know who you are,” he mumbled softly looking at Dalton like he wasn’t quite real, like he was a product of his mind, straight out of his dreams. It made Dalton’s heart skip a beat and then start thumbing almost painfully hard.

“ _I wish I could just take it off_ ,” Cole whispered, his fingers brushing the white mask before kissing him again harder this time, pushing Dalton up against the wall, his hand pulling his shirt up, exposing the skin on his abdomen as his fingers teased lower and lower until they slipped underneath Dalton’s unbuttoned jeans, making him hiss.

“ _Cole_ ,” Dalton whispered, his eyes shutting close as he felt all his blood rushing down the whole situation making him dizzy. He gripped the other boy’s shoulders for support, inciting Cole to glue their bodies together, his nose burying in the crook of Dalton’s neck, taking his scent in.

“What’s not fair,” Cole whined against his skin as his hand moved lower, feeling just _exactly how_ he was affecting the other boy. “I can’t cry out _your_ name,” Cole said.

And in that exact second when Cole tightened his grip around him, over his boxers, Dalton saw little stars exploding behind his eyes and he cried out, tempted to just say it all to him, his full name if he wanted, just to hear that voice moaning it into his ear.

Cole’s hand on him was all he could feel at this point; only noticed the small kisses Cole was trailing along his neck when he stopped talking; when he stopped teasing him.

“I guess I’ll just have you make you scream loud enough for the both of us,” he mumbled, biting down softly, making Dalton’s eyes roll back, his mouth ajar in a silent cry.

Dalton felt a low tug inside him, a delicious pull that had him thrusting against Cole’s hand, looking for the friction again, “Oh my God,” he sighed, as Cole kissed him again.

He was so distracted by everything that he almost didn’t heard the giggling and the steps coming up the stairs. His brain took a moment processing what it mean, but when it finally clicked, he pushed Cole away, wide eyed.

Suddenly, the door was swinging open and two boys were stumbling out onto the roof, laughing about something.

Dalton fastened his jeans and belt as fast as he could, too stunned to do anything more – like run - but stare chocked at the two strangers that only now seemed to notice their presence. As they took a look at the whole scene, Cole groaned, both hands falling on each side of Dalton’s head, as he dropped his forehead on the other boy’s shoulder, clearly frustrated.

“Holy shit, Pendery, you don’t waste any time, do you, you thirsty little bastard?” one of them said – it was their friends, the two that spiked the punch.

“For God’s sake, Dana, will you two just leave?” Cole said, pointing towards the door. They both laughed, “Get it, tiger,” the second boy said, winking at them.

“Get out, Gabe!” Cole yelled, again as Dalton closed his eyes completely mortified, wishing a whole would open on the ground and just swallowed him. _Oh my God_.

“No, no, wait a second,” Gabe said, as he pulled something out of his pocked. “I said we were meeting here at midnight to try this, you knew that, so it’s your fault you got cockblocked,” when Dalton looked at his hand, he found a joint. _Holy shit, seriously?_

“I’m sorry, dude,” Dana said, talking to Dalton, “I’m Dana, by the way. I’d totally shake your hand but I don’t wanna touch Cole’s body parts, not even indirectly. “

“For God’s sake, Dana!” Cole said, moving his body so it was in between him and Dalton, in a sort of protective way.

The whole situation was so ridiculous, Dalton was pretty sure he was dreaming at this point – there was no way this was real. There was no way the preppy kids of his school were actually standing in front of him, ready to smoke weed, apologizing for interrupting their friend from making out with a boy. Dalton almost laughed, _smoking on the roof at midnight-_

“Oh shit,” Dalton said suddenly realizing his time was up, feeling his phone buzzing on his pocket. Taking a quick glance at it, he read, _we’re waiting in the van for u!_ under Jaq’s name.

Cole turned around to look at him, confused, but Dalton didn’t even give him time to react, “I have to go,” he simply stated as he ran past him, towards the door.

“No, wait!” he heard Cole calling, felt his hand brushing his side in an attempt to stop him, but he kept running, getting to the door and down the stairs without a single glance back.

Cole had every intention of going after him, but Gabe stopped him, “Bro, what are you doing, you can’t leave now,” he said, “besides, you heard him he probably has a schedule to follow or something. Don’t worry, you’ll see the dude again,” Gabe added as he saw the worry on Cole’s face.

“You don’t know that. How will I see him again if I don’t even know who he is?” Cole said, clearly frustrated with the whole ordeal, his arms up in the air and his hands covering his face.

At that, Gabe gave him a funny look, a smile tilting the corner of his lips, “Wow, you’re seriously into this guy.” Cole whined, his eyebrows raising in a sort of helpless and desperate expression, “You have no idea,” he said.

“Hey, Cole,” Dana, said, bending down to catch something from the floor, smiling wide at the two boys, “looks like your boy left something behind.”

Dangling on his hand was a crooked and now broken chain.

 

When Dalton noticed his chain was missing he was already inside the van and on his way to the coffee shop. He cursed under his breath, but the worry of not making it back before his stepmother was suffocating any other thoughts on his mind and it was quickly forgotten.

He took his makeup off in the van, changing back to old boring Dalton always looking at the road and wishing Hunter would go faster, would fly over all the other cars.

The van hadn’t even properly stopped when he was already jumping out of it, running towards the back door and yelling a quick goodbye to his friends.

As if on cue, the second he stepped out of the back room into the zone behind the counter, the door opened and his stepmother and both his stepsisters came inside, Drizella with a huge frown on her face and Anastasia a rather amused expression – it was the total opposite of when they left.

He saw Bruno turn around to face him, letting out a subtle breathe, his whole facial expression screaming _thank god_. They fist bumped, their hands low where his stepmother couldn’t see.

“What are you waiting for?” his stepmother said, her voice bitten than usual. He almost smiled, but was able to control himself. He went back to get his backpack and leave his apron, bid Bruno goodbye as he finished closing the coffee shop and followed his stepmother out of the door.

All the way home, he couldn’t stop thinking about Cole. He could still feel the ghost of his lips, could still feel the warmth of his hands and the sound of his voice as he said all those things to him. What he’d felt then, with him, was something he’d never felt before. He’d never kissed anyone – he has never _wanted_ to kiss someone until he saw the way Cole looked at him and felt that weird twisting of his stomach, the quickening of his heart and how he set Dalton’s skin on fire.

He’s never been in love and at the back of his mind there was this small voice asking, wondering. _So_ this _is love?_

 

 

Going back to school the next Monday was weird. He didn’t see the other boy all morning but spent the entire time half dreading and half hoping for it. By lunch time, as he sat down with Will in the cafeteria listening to all his stories about Prom, he had already given up thinking about it.

He was trying so hard to keep his mind away from it that he almost wasn’t paying attention to Will, until, “… and I swear something possessed me in that moment,- I mean, something must’ve possessed her too, otherwise she wouldn’t be whispering that she has a thing for Asians in my ear, right? – and I just went for it and kissed her,” and Dalton stopped scribbling on his notebook to look at Will, wide eyed, his eyebrows rising in his forehead.

“Go William,” he said rising his hand for a high five, surprised at his friend’s forwardness.

“But I mean, she just grabbed my face and kissed me harder, it was the best moment of my entire life,” Will said slapping his hand and falling back on his chair, an awestruck smile on his face. Dalton’s eyes fell back on his notebook, a smile on his face as well.

“So I’m guessing the mayor’s son didn’t kick your ass or anything,” he teased. Will scoffed.

“Cole Pendery? Nah, man, I didn’t see him all night,” he said. Dalton stopped. He was about to mutter a perplexed _what_ when Ella showed up by Will’s side, a smile on her face and a food tray on her hands.

“Didn’t see who all night?” she asked, as she put her tray down beside Will and kissed him on the cheek, before casually sitting down waiting for an answer as if this was the most ordinary scenery. Will was looking at her wide eyed, “Cole Pendery,” he muttered and Dalton wasn’t even beginning to grasp the situation when another girl sat next to Ella, “You guys are talking about Prom, right? I didn’t see Cole for most of the night as well,” she said. Both Will and Dalton were struck silent, looking at each other with their eyebrows raised on their foreheads.

“I can assure you he was _very_ entertained all night,” Dalton heard, before a boy – Dana – sat on Will’s other side, a cheeky smile on his face.

By Dalton’s left side, in front of Dana, Gabe was putting his tray down on the table as he mumbled, “Dana,” in a warning tone of voice.

“I know, I know, I’m not saying anything!” Dana said, throwing his hands up defensively, the smile still on his face. Dalton felt his cheeks burning and bowed his head down, letting his hair fall over his eyes to hide him away. _Oh God_.

“You’re practically saying everything, right now,” Ella said, smiling. Her eyes then caught something, “Look who he is,” she said, “I wanna know everything about Saturday night!”

Dalton heard him laughing before he saw him and his heart skipped a beat at the sound, his eyes rising up to look at him without his permission. He felt his stomach flip, a thousand butterflies flying around and for a moment he forgot how to breathe.

Cole sat down right next to Dalton, “I don’t kiss and tell,” he stated simply. Then he turned to Dalton, muttering a brief _hi_ with a smile.

“Ah,” the other girl started, “but you did kiss, then,” she said, her smile widening.

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t,” Cole said, “I’m still not sure myself, it still feels like a dream. If it weren’t for this…” he mumbled. That was when Dalton noticed he had the other half of his chain in his hands and was playing around with it, looking intently, as if it was going to give him all the answers.

“Holy shit,” Will said suddenly out of nowhere, looking perplexed at the chain in Cole’s hand, drawing everyone’s attention towards himself. Dalton had a moment of panic, when he saw the realization in Will’s eyes. “That’s D-“ before he could finish his sentence, Dalton kicked him beneath the table, making him trail off, groaning in pain instead.

Everyone was staring at him, and Will looked at Dalton for a moment before, “I mean, that’s the chain from the uhm… the singer from the-uhm the other night,” he said, awkwardly.  Ella chuckled softly by his side.

“You met him?” the girl beside Ella said impressed. Dalton stole a quick glance at her, seeing the perplexity in her face – as if meeting him was the most impressive thing to ever happen to someone. He bit his smile.

“Oh did he met him,” Dana said, chuckling, “he met him, alright, he met all there was to meet about the dude, if you know what I mean.”

Dalton felt his cheeks burning up looking away from Will’s gob smacked expression, his mouth ajar as he stared at Dalton, “Oh my God, are you serious?” Will said absolutely incredulous. By his side, Ella hugged his arm, letting her chin fall on his shoulder, “Judging by your face I’m guessing you didn’t know Cole liked boys,” she said, smiling.

“I had no idea,” Will said, still looking at Dalton whose whole face was practically on fire right now. _Oh God_. “Not that I have a problem with it or anything,” Will added, “I just, I had no idea,” he said. Looking up, Dalton saw Will glancing at him and he knew for sure he was talking to him. He smiled at his friend.

“Well, do you know who he is? Tell me!” the girl pressed, practically jumping on her chair, reaching out for Cole’s hand and pouting. Dalton felt his whole body tense at that. It wasn’t like Cole knew his name, but if he did, would he tell?

“I’m not telling you that,” Cole said, and Dalton let out a breath. He could trust him, he knew he could. He smiled feeling the tension leaving his body, his elbows sliding on the table into a more comfortable position. Accidentally, he knocked his pencil that fell on the floor, between him and Cole.

They both looked at it at the same, bending down with the intention of picking it up. “It’s okay,” Cole said, picking it up from the floor. He looked slightly up then and his eyes got caught in the broken and crooked piece of Dalton’s chain that was still attached to his jeans, his smile faltering a little.

Dalton felt his heart dropped, when he saw realization coloring Cole’s face, and he stopped breathing when the other boy’s eyes snapped up to meet his. For a second there his mind went completely blank before his brain started working on overdrive and he took the pencil out of Cole’s hand, grabbing his notebook and getting up from the table muttering a hurried, “I have to go, see you.”

“Wait, Dalton, wait up!” Will called, but Dalton just kept going. Cole couldn’t think for a moment.

 _Dalton._ That was his name. Without a second thought, Cole got up without a single word, running towards the hallway after Dalton.

Dalton didn’t even have time to exit the school, “ _Dalton!_ ” Cole yelled. And there was something about having the other boy saying his name like that, hearing it in Cole’s voice that brought certain realism to everything. He stopped before he knew what he was doing and the next second, he was hyper aware of Cole’s hand on his upper arm, making him turn around to face him.

“ _Dalton_ ,” he said again, a nervous little laugh escaping his lips as his eyes searched his face, finally being able to see it entirely. For some reason, he wasn’t wearing any makeup, today, and the green of his shirt was making his eyes stand out like they had light of their own; Cole was mesmerized by the intensity of those - green? Blue? – eyes.

Reaching out for Dalton’s chain – the half still attached to his jeans – he connected the half he had to Dalton’s, proving what he already knew. As he looked at Dalton again, “Please don’t tell anyone, pl-“

His notebook was knocked off his hand, falling on the ground soundlessly, unlike the way his back hit the lockers, making them shake violently as Cole’s whole body weight trapped him against them and his lips crashed against Dalton’s, stealing his breath away.

His arms rose automatically to cup Cole’s face and he pulled him closer, kissing him back with the same intensity. It wasn’t long before they had to break apart to breathe and Dalton’s couldn’t take his eyes off Cole’s shiny red lips.

“I don’t know how it’s possible,” Cole started, his eyes buried in Dalton’s. “But your eyes seem even more beautiful now.” Dalton laughed at his cheesiness but feeling his heart warm up nonetheless and kissed him again. For a moment there, he was so scared, when he found out who Cole actually was – imagine if Drizella finds out about this.

But he couldn’t resist this rush, this feeling that made him forget all the concerns and worries that occupied his mind, made him get reckless and not have a care in the world.

“You could’ve trust me right from the beginning, you know that, right?” Cole said. Dalton sighed, biting his lip. He could see that now, but his every thought was so biased when Cole was involved that he was scared.

“I didn’t know that,” Dalton whispered.

“Were you ever going to tell me?” Cole asked, “It makes me so mad that all this time you were so close to me and I had no idea,” he said, burying his nose in Dalton’s neck.

“I’m sorry. I just found out you’re the mayor’s kid, and, I don’t know, it makes things even more complicated,” Dalton muttered. Cole stepped back enough to look at him.

“Why?” he asked eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What did his father’s job have to do with anything?

Again, Dalton sighed, “Because,” he started, looking for the best words to explain the mess that was his whole life to him, “My stepmother and stepsister are two bitches that live to make my life a living hell. My stepmother hates me and wants nothing more than destroy all the good things in my life. All they care about is money and a good last name and let’s just say Pendery just sounds really good to their ears. If they found out…” he trailed off.

“Is that why you wear a mask at your shows?” Cole asked, his fingers ghosting over Dalton’s right eyebrow that the mask covered. He nodded.

“They can’t know about my band… or you,” Dalton said.

Cole looked at him for a while, examining his face but his eyes far away, as if thinking about something else.

“What are you thinking about?” Dalton asked, letting his back fall against the lockers in a more relaxed position, now that Cole’s body wasn’t so close to his. The silence of the deserted hallway was stretching for too long and Dalton was getting scared of it, of what it might mean.

Cole looked at him then, a small smile curling the corner of his lips, “Introducing you to my dad,” he simply stated. Dalton’s eyes widened, “What?”

Cole chuckled reaching for his hand, “I don’t care what your stepmother or your stepsister thinks; we’re together now, and if my dad’s last name matters so much to them then they ought to respect it.”

Truthfully, Dalton lost himself a bit at the _we’re together now_ part, taking a bit longer than he’d normally need to understand Cole’s reasoning. “If you’re okay with it,” Cole started, “I’ll introduce you to my father. He’ll be thrilled, really, been nagging me about wanting to meet you since forever, and your stepmother won’t dare laying a single finger on you.”

Dalton’s eyebrow’s rose, “Wait, what do you mean, your dad’s been nagging you about wanting to meet me?”

Cole blushed violently at that and an amused smile cracked on Dalton’s lips, “I may or may not have told him about my gigantic crush on you,” he said, looking everywhere but directly at Dalton, his hand coming up to play with his hair in a nervous matter.

“So you basically fangirled about me to your dad,” Dalton teased, smiling. Cole’s eyes narrowed at his mocking tone and he pushed him playfully, making Dalton laugh.

“Hey, it’s totally okay, you’re not the first one, I get that a lot,” he said smugly, and Cole’s mouth dropped open indignantly at Dalton’s teasing. Dalton grabbed his hand, pulling him closer with a smile and wrapping his arms around him.

“ _Stupid punk rocker_ ,” Cole muttered under his breath, fighting back a smile as Dalton pecked his lips softly.

“But you’re the first fan girl whose dad I’m agreeing on meeting though, so feel special,” Dalton said.

“Yeah?” Cole pressed, smiling as their noses bumped together. Dalton nodded softly.

“I’ll meet your dad,” Dalton said. Cole didn’t say anything else about that.

“Do you, hmm, do you wanna go to my house? There’s no one home right now,” Cole said. Dalton bit his lip, smiling and Cole didn’t say another word; he just smiled back, his hand reaching for Dalton as the other boy grabbed his notebook from the floor and they both walked down the hallway towards the exit, hand in hand.

The facial expressions on people’s faces as they walked past them were absolutely priceless, making the two boys laugh and giggle at each other as they just stared, too awestruck to even try to be subtle.

But the best, though, the absolute best was when Drizella and Anastasia saw them. Anastasia just stared surprised. But Drizella…

Drizella’s mouth dropped open as her eyes fell on their intertwined hands and her screechy voice echoed through the whole fields of the school, “Dalton?! What the hell is this?” she said, absolutely shocked and indignant. Dalton hesitated on his step just a second but when Cole realized who she was, he didn’t miss a beat.

Ignoring Drizella’s ranting Cole turned around to face Dalton, winked at him and then simply kissed his lips, sealing them firmly together.  He put up quite a show for the entire school as well, his tongue entangling with Dalton’s in a demanding kiss that left Dalton completely dazed. He stumbled a bit on his feet when Cole broke the kiss, smiled at him and kept walking as if he hadn’t just outted himself _big time_ in front of the entire school. It was rather incredible how firm he was walking and how proudly his chin was up when Dalton was having a hard time even breathing.

When they passed by Drizella’s speechless and horrified figure, Cole smiled saying, “we should definitely talk about dinner with my dad; I can’t wait to meet the rest of my new step-family.”

Dalton couldn’t help but laugh at that. Cole was teasing, of course, but at that moment, Drizella’s face was just priceless.

Completely and absolutely _priceless_. 

**Author's Note:**

> http://whereshiphappens.tumblr.com/ask :)


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